Most people’s connecting thread between “Southern Man” and “Sweet Home Alabama” is the alleged feud between its artists, Neil Young and Lynyrd Skynyrd, respectively. If we’re to believe the storyline that inspired and helped popularize the two songs, Young started it with his folk-rock protest anthem from After the Gold Rush. The track is a scathing critique of racism in the Deep South, with the chorus repeating: Southern man, better keep your head. Don’t forget what your good book said.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd’s response came four years later on Second Helping. “Sweet Home Alabama” name-dropped the Canadian singer-songwriter directly, saying, and I hope Neil Young will remember a Southern man don’t need him around anyhow. The musical interaction was glaring, of course. But it wasn’t the only interesting connection these songs shared.
A Different “Southern Man” and “Sweet Home Alabama” Connection
In addition to the rival that never really was, Neil Young’s “Southern Man” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” share a mutual connection with session singer Merry Clayton, who famously contributed a stunning vocal feature on the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” one year before Young put out his divisive protest song. Inspired by Young’s cutting lyricism and eager to perform the song from the perspective of a Black woman raised in pre-Civil Rights Act Louisiana, Clayton included her version of Young’s song on her eponymous solo album from 1971. (It’s the best version, by the way.)
When the time came for Lynyrd Skynyrd to record their musical retort, they sent a call out for competent background vocalists to sing on “Sweet Home Alabama.” And who’s phone rang but the one and only Merry Clayton? Clayton recalled receiving a call from a friend and fellow session singer, Clydie King, in a later interview. “She called me and said that this producer talked to her about doing this session with this guy. She thought his name was Leonard Skynyrd, but we came to find out that the group was called Lynyrd Skynyrd. Either way, she said the song was “Sweet Home Alabama.””
“There was silence on the phone for quite a while,” Clayton continued. “I said, ‘Clydie, are you serious? I’m not singing nothing about nobody’s sweet home Alabama. Period.’ I’m just going on and on. My husband passes by in the other room, and he says, ‘What’s wrong?’ I said, ‘We’re going to do this session with this white boy called “Sweet Home Alabama.” He said, ‘“Sweet Home Alabama?” Merry, are you serious?” He says, ‘Give me the phone,’ and he talks to Clydie and says, ‘She’ll be there.’”
Why The Singer Opted To Perform On The Track After All
By the time Lynyrd Skynyrd called Clydie King’s producer who called Clydie King who called Merry Clayton to come lay vocal tracks on a new Lynyrd Skynyrd song, the band was already riding high on their debut hits “Gimme Three Steps,” “Free Bird,” and “Simple Man.” They were, for all intents and purposes, one of the most—if not the most—famous Southern rock band at the time. While performing on what would become such a ubiquitous track would be a big opportunity for a session singer like Clayton, that’s not what convinced her to get over her initial hesitation.
Clayton’s husband, Curtis Amy, told her after she got off the phone, “‘What you don’t know is that you can’t picket, and you can’t stand on the front lines because, with your mouth, you’d be dead. But you have the biggest platform there is to partake in. What you should do is let the music be your protest.’ And I got it. At that moment, it clicked in my head, and I got it.” The singer said she and King prayed, asking God “that this song would be a big hit and to let this be our protest and let people know that the whole world was screwed up. But that this was our protest as background singers and as music people, period. My purpose was to get to people through the music.”
“Sweet Home Alabama” became Lynyrd Skynyrd’s highest-charting song when it peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1974. Whether divine intervention or the power of rock ‘n’ roll (or both, if you like), Clayton certainly accomplished her goal of reaching people through her music.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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